YOLO COUNTY, Calif. — A sweeping investigation published Wednesday by The New York Times has prompted a strong response from elected officials and community leaders across the state, including Yolo County, which issued a joint statement expressing support for survivors of sexual abuse and calling for accountability in the wake of allegations against Cesar Chavez.
The Times investigation reported that multiple women have accused Chavez of grooming, sexual abuse and coercion, including allegations involving minors during the height of the farmworker movement.
The reporting is based on interviews with more than 60 people, including former aides, family members and women who said they experienced abuse, as well as corroborating documents such as letters, emails and union records.
In Yolo County, local leaders said the moment requires reflection and solidarity with survivors.
“Women’s History Month and recent news about survivors of sexual abuse — including statements from Dolores Huerta and other women — calls us to speak,” the statement reads. “We, past and present elected, leaders of Yolo County stand together in support of survivors and against sexual abuse and harassment.”
The statement emphasizes that confronting abuse does not negate the broader goals of social movements.
“Huerta’s statement does not condemn movements working to better humanity, nor does it diminish them,” the leaders wrote. “Rather, it illuminates the troubling ways that those with less power are forced to confront and navigate abuse within the very spaces meant to uplift them.”
The signatories, a group that includes current and former elected officials and community leaders, also committed to accountability.
“As current and former elected officials, we commit to respecting and maintaining appropriate boundaries in both public and private spheres, and to holding one another accountable for our behavior and actions,” the statement reads. “No matter who the abuser is, accountability must extend across all systems and spheres.”
They added, “We honor the courage it takes to come forward, especially from communities fighting injustice, and encourage anyone who experiences or witnesses sexual abuse or harassment to do so.”
The statement also directs residents to local and national resources, including Empower Yolo, the Yolo County District Attorney’s Victim Services division, Cameron’s Place, the California Victim Compensation Program, and national hotlines.
The local response follows a public statement from Dolores Huerta, Chavez’s longtime collaborator and co-founder of the United Farm Workers, who said she is coming forward after decades of silence.
“I am nearly 96 years old, and for the last 60 years have kept a secret because I believed that exposing the truth would hurt the farmworker movement I have spent my entire life fighting for,” Huerta said.
“Following the New York Times’ multi-year investigation into sexual misconduct by Cesar Chavez, I can no longer stay silent and must share my own experiences,” she said.
Huerta described two encounters with Chavez in the 1960s.
“The first time I was manipulated and pressured into having sex with him, and I didn’t feel I could say no because he was someone that I admired, my boss and the leader of the movement I had already devoted years of my life to,” she said. “The second time I was forced, against my will, and in an environment where I felt trapped.”
She said both encounters resulted in pregnancies that she kept secret.
“I chose to keep my pregnancies secret and, after the children were born, I arranged for them to be raised by other families that could give them stable lives,” Huerta said.
Reflecting on her decision to remain silent for decades, she tied it to her commitment to the farmworker movement.
“I carried this secret for as long as I did because building the movement and securing farmworker rights was my life’s work,” she said.
Huerta also reframed how she understands her experience.
“I have never identified myself as a victim, but I now understand that I am a survivor — of violence, of sexual abuse, of domineering men who saw me, and other women, as property, or things to control,” she said.
She said she is speaking now because others have come forward.
“I am telling my story because the New York Times has indicated that I was not the only one — there were others,” Huerta said. “Women are coming forward, sharing that they were sexually abused and assaulted by Cesar when they were girls and teenagers.”
The Times investigation includes accounts from multiple women who said Chavez abused them as minors. Ana Murguia, who said the abuse began when she was 13, recalled being told, “Don’t tell anyone… They’d get jealous,” and later said, “I wanted to die.”
Debra Rojas, who said she was first abused at 12, described the psychological impact of the relationship. “I didn’t know what the word grooming was… It’s like you’re mesmerized,” she said. “I feel like he’s been a shadow over my life.”
Other accounts in the investigation describe alleged coercion, manipulation and the use of Chavez’s authority within the movement to control and silence victims. The reporting also cites corroboration from contemporaneous documents and individuals who said they were told of the abuse years earlier.
At the same time, some former associates disputed the allegations. Frank Curiel, a former bodyguard, said, “I’ll tell you this: Pedophile? Never.” He added, “As far as I’m concerned, Cesar was my chief.”
The revelations have already led to institutional responses. The United Farm Workers announced it would cancel events honoring Chavez, and public officials across the country have begun reconsidering honors bearing his name, including streets, schools and the state holiday in California.
For Yolo County leaders, the focus remains on supporting survivors and reinforcing community accountability.
“We also want to ensure that survivors and victims in our county know that support is available,” the statement reads. “And may we continue to work together toward gender equity and other forms of justice for farm workers and all in our schools and in our society.”
The statement is signed by more than 30 current and former elected officials and community leaders, reflecting a broad local response to a national story that is reshaping how one of the most revered figures in the labor and civil rights movement is understood.
Yolo letter signers include: Norma Alcala, Shelia Allen, Angel Barajas, Laura Brubaker, Joe Dinunzio, Lea Darrah, Elizabeth Esquivel, Lucas Frerichs, Kandice Fowler, Tania García-Cadena, Cecilia E. Greenwald, Bibiana Garcia, Martha Guerrero, Hiram Jackson, Garth Lewis, Jesse Loren, David Moreno, Melissa Moreno, Julian Munoz, Elizabeth Moon, Donna Neville, Maria J. Olmedo, Jesse Ortiz, Gloria Partida, Xóchitl Rodriguez, Jesse Salinas, Albert Vallecillo, Mayra Vega, Rogelio Villagrana, Oscar Villegas, Bapu Vaitla, Jackie Wong, and Shelton Yip
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So what shall DJUSD rename Cesar Chavez Elementary School?
How about honoring Ronald Reagan? 🤣
Dolores Huerta Elementary School
John Pamparin Elementary.
Love and miss John, but can’t happen – you can’t change a name from a Latino to a white man, especially at the Spanish immersion school.
My 7th grade art teacher Robert Lee Minatree would always say “Can’t never did anything.”
Just like Malcolm X learned when he went to Mecca that there are white Muslims I’d like to inform you that there are white Spanish speakers.
What about a Jew? Can you change it to a Jew?
Joe Dimaggio Elementary. When his alcoholism was revealed Joe famously said “I’m not anybody’s hero.”
I’m so sad. Two of my great hero’s growing up were Ceasar Chavez and Bill Cosby. Maybe we should not name the school after anybody.
I think it time to stop naming things after people. Oft goes awry.
The school should revert back to its original name – West Davis Elementary.
I agree.
Everyone: There are community members personally mentioned and impacted in this story, your comments need to be respectful.
Indeed, the detailed information is shocking and very hard to digest.
However, it is backed up by plenty of horrific validated evidence against girls and young women.
The depth of individual harm cannot be measured but it is lifelong.
At a Labor Day picnic in LA I volunteered to be a bodyguard for Cesar and thus began a years long working relationship with the UFW and Cesar.
However, my brake with Cesar himself occurred when Cesar began a woeful relationship with Chuck Dederick of Synanon in Santa Monica. The inhuman conduct of Cesar allowing those harmful practices to be carried out was the first sign to me of an imperfect human being.
I am so sorry to now hear of his impact on others, especially Dolores Huerta.
I would agree with David that renaming the school our daughter attended after Dolores Huerta would honor her legacy and remove the shame of Cesar Chavez.
We must not forget the role of thousands of farm workers who suffered so that others could benefit.
Si Si Peude